It is rare that I get to share my love of archaeology and history with my family. I’ve been dragging my wife to archaeology sites for over 20 years now so I know how much attention she can dedicate to the piles of rubble I so enjoy. I’ve only taken her to an archaeology conference once before (She said she wouldn’t do it again). I know how long she can listen to me talk about archaeology before her eyes glaze over (approximately 90 seconds). My kids are young. They’re the reason why I do this job, but they have even less interest in archaeology. My son and daughter can organically spend about 10 seconds interested in my job unless I make it worth their while. I can maintain their attention for hours using sugary snacks and other gifts. However, this doesn’t work on my wife. While they don’t love archaeology as much as I do, they definitely love me and it’s their love of their dad/husband that keeps them going at archaeological sites.
I might have exhausted their love supply by bringing them to the dozens of heritage sites we visited this winter on our trip to Spain and Portugal. The 2023 Society for Historical Archaeology Conference was in Lisbon, Portugal. In the leadup to the conference, I was able to take my family along for a winter vacation across the Iberian Peninsula. We spent the holiday season eating tapas in the Basque Country, sampling a vast range of wines in Porto, and visiting heritage sites across Spain and Portugal. I never imagined I’d ever be able to do that with my family, but it happened, and it was magical.
I managed to squeeze all of this around the busy conference schedule. Here’s how it worked out for me.
NOTE: I’m currently on the Board of Directors for the SHA until 2025 so the following post does not represent the SHA in any way.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: I was a bad archaeologist and spent significant time with my family and friends, so I didn’t see that many papers. It’s the first time in 18 SHA conferences that I’ve done that. Don’t judge me too harshly.
Wonderful City. Difficult Venue for an Archaeology Conference.
Organizing an archaeology conference is not easy. It takes hundreds of hours donated by dozens of dedicated organization members to pull one of these events off. Very few of them get paid for their efforts. So, I don’t want to detract from all the work of those who made this happen in the post-covid world. But, this conference suffered from the fact that it was in such a rad city.
International conferences are hard for many reasons. The planning communication must take place across thousands of miles; oftentimes between people who have never met and have never organized an archaeology conference. In this case there was also a language barrier as few SHA members speak Portuguese, which is the first language for the conference planners at NOVA University of Lisbon. These factors had to have made the planning difficult but there were also several additional complications that adversely affected the conference in different ways:
- A polar vortex transformed parts of the United States into the Planet Hoth in the weeks leading up to the conference. This has happened before (https://www.succinctresearch.com/archaeology-in-the-european-village-on-the-planet-hoth/) and it never makes things easy. Some folks experienced travel snags from this.
- Airline computers and software also glitched severely this winter leading to the cancellation of thousands of flights. Southwest Airlines pretty much collapsed in late December, 2022 for a couple days. This made winter, 2022 even more difficult for air passengers in the United States.
- Covid is still a thing in 2023. I know some folks who had to quarantine because of Covid and couldn’t travel. Worldwide immune systems seem to be weaker this winter too because we all had to socially distance from 2020–2022, which lead to lots of folks getting the flu and other colds while they were traveling. Illnesses probably diminished folks activity levels and participation. It also might have caused some to drop out of the conference like I had to do when Covid visited my house right before #SHA2022.
- There was a rail strike in Portugal which disrupted transit lines in Lisbon and the surrounding area. This made it difficult for folks who planned on using trains to get from their lodging to the conference venue.
- And, it wasn’t cheap to get to Lisbon. In 2023, life in Portugal was very affordable when compared to parts of the United States. But, getting there was expensive. My plane tickets for the SHA conference usually run in the $400–700 range. My flight from San Francisco to Lisbon was about $1,400.
None of these obstacles made it easy for conference-goers to network, which is the primary reason why we attend. The conference this year also suffered because it was in such an amazing city.
If you wanted to network at #SHA2023, it was a difficult activity. The presentation rooms were scattered throughout an active university campus that was also holding classes in those same buildings. There was no book room so meeting up with folks there wasn’t an option. The reception location was so far away from where the presentations were held that the organizers arranged Greyhound busses to transport people there. And, the primary in-person meeting space was an open air courtyard adjacent to a coffee shop. It was a rad spot except it rained heavily for half the conference.
There was no real place where you were going to just happen by professors you might want to work with or CRM company principals who might hire you. This made networking difficult.
The City of Lisbon itself also contributed to absences because it was such an amazing place to explore. I found it hard to go hang out with archaeologists and students when there were so many historical sites, delicious restaurants, and cool stores to visit. I wasn’t the only one. There appeared to be very few people at the conference venue whenever I was there. I think the conference organizers did a great job pulling off a conference given all these variables but the allure of Lisbon was probably too powerful to work against.
Can we separate archaeologists from alcohol?
Archaeologists drink alcohol. We drink particularly heavily whenever we’re at a conference. I’ve written about this before:
The Drinking Culture of Archaeologists, Part I
The Drinking Culture of Archaeologists, Part II
The Drinking Culture of Archaeologists, Part III
Archaeologists drinking at conferences is part of our professional culture and I know its not a good thing. I feel like the potential for harassment is increased whenever we drink heavily. I also feel like hard drinking is responsible for a lot of the ailments archaeologists my age are experiencing. I’m 43 and have been doing archaeology since I was 20 years old. Drinking has been part of that career. Socializing over drinks has been a major facilitator of networking and collegiality throughout my career. In the past few years, I’ve really slowed down on my alcohol consumption because I realized that it was shortening my life and was making me feel like crap after drinking at levels that I used to enjoy. During the pandemic I gave up drinking except for certain occasions. Socializing with other archaeologists is one of the few times when I drink alcohol these days but its nothing like what I used to do.
#SHA2023 reaffirmed that alcohol is still central to the way archaeologists socialize. I don’t know how this link can be broken or if it’s even possible. As happens every year, people stayed up very late drinking, got sick, and missed portions of the conference just because of their activities the night before. It’s kind of a shame to see folks spending thousands of dollars to spend their days with a severe hangover.
Binge drinking isn’t good for any of us. Nor, is organizing our professional networking activities around drinking alcohol. I don’t want to be a teetotaler, but I encourage all archaeologists to rethink their relationship with alcohol and decide for themselves if it is healthy.
The Society of Black Archeologists is doing great work
The Society of Black Archaeologists holds their annual business meeting during one of the nights at the SHA conference. The SBA only had about a dozen members when it was founded in 2011. It has grown since. This past meeting in Lisbon had about 30 attendees including folks working for the Smithsonian and Diving with a Purpose. There were students, assistant professors, and other researchers interested in working with Black communities around the world. SBA members are doing work in several countries other than the United States and is as inclusive as an archaeology organization can be. I feel Iike the SBA represents the change needed in archaeology in the 21st century and it was so encouraging to see the great stuff they’re doing
(Full Disclosure: I’m one of the founding members of the SBA so I’ve been invested in it from the start. As such, I’ve seen it blossom into an influential organization. Proud to have been a part of all of this.)
Please check out the SBA’s website if you want to know more or reach out to some of the SBA members you know if you’re interested working with the organization. (https://www.societyofblackarchaeologists.com)
SHA Members are doing interesting work
While I didn’t attend the same number of sessions and papers I usually do, the presentations I watched were really good. There were a lot of things I missed that I plan on reaching out to the presenters and organizers to learn more about their work. I saw that SHA members are tackling a lot of tough questions about racism and repatriation while also keeping archaeological method and theory at the forefront. This is important because I feel like archaeology in the 2020s is realizing that the way it’s been practiced is not really serving most communities and has the potential to become irrelevant to the communities funding it. It is encouraging to see that archaeologists are aware of this problem and are doing work designed to connect with students, communities, and other archaeologists.
We are living through some interesting times. The papers I saw at #SHA2023 are rooted in the zeitgeist of these days and has great potential.
Workations can be worth it
There is much to be said for bringing your family to an archaeology conference. It will definitely change your focus away from the conference as part of the time that would be spent connecting with colleagues will be transferred to family activities. So, perhaps folks who are hardcore job searching might not want to bring the family along. But, workations like this were valuable to me and my family because it is unlikely I would have toured Spain and Portugal had I not brought them. I might have spent an extra few days at the front and back end of this year’s conference seeing the sights of Lisbon but I definitely wouldn’t have traveled as extensively as I did. And I definitely wouldn’t have tried to find kid-friendly venues like Kidzania (https://lisboa.kidzania.com/pt-pt). My family didn’t have to spend 24/7 thinking about archaeology and neither did I. We got to spend time together while I was working a reduced schedule. This was something new and interesting. I wouldn’t do it for every SHA destination but its worth considering for “exotic” locations like Lisbon.
I feel like #SHA2023 was a success. I enjoyed myself and am so impressed with all the amazing work my colleagues are doing around the world. It’s exciting to see the number of Black archaeologists increasing. I can’t describe how comforting it is to be able to share my thoughts with other scholars who have had similar experiences in archaeology. We’re able to work through the troubles we’re having in our career with folks who have been through it and understand what we’re going through. It is also powerful for white archaeologists to be able to see this camaraderie and different approach to archaeology because I feel like the best parts of diversity in archaeology are finding its way into the rest of American archaeology.
I’m looking forward to #SHA2024 as it will be in my own backyard. The next conference will be in Oakland, CA, right down the road from where I work. This one will be all work and no vacation but I’m open to helping anyone who wants to workation in the Bay Area in 2024. Reach out to me if you have any questions. I hope to see you all there.
Are you looking forward to an archaeology conference? If so, which one? Where is it at and when will it be? Tell us all in the comments box below or send me an email.
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